Monday, October 22, 2012

I recall a few years ago when football players first took up dance classes to develop balance and strength in their legs. The coaches quickly learned their players could also increase their reflexes and flexibility by taking yoga and karate classes. I was reminded of what was then considered revolutionary training while watching President Obama and Governor Romney navigate their debate space during the Tuesday town hall meeting at HofstraUniversity.

Never before has the American electorate had the opportunity to see two candidates so closely matched physically as they present themselves non-verbally. There are slight and significant differences. Whether genetic, trained athletic ability, or just time spent shooting baskets, Obama’s slightly bow-legged slender frame is graceful and nimble. In contrast, Romney’s physique is solid and when he moves it is deliberate.

I suspect practice also divides them as Obama, whether from his days as a Chicago community organizer or his past four years as president, is used to being center stage and physically pushing himself out to meet an audience. He’s quite adept at moving effortlessly into a well-balanced stance with his weight evenly divided over both feet.

Obama also knows how to draw energy from an audience and uses his skill to make a visceral connection. It generally works well except for the times his words and movement say different things–and when that happens, there is a disconnect with his audience.

Romney covers the same space with a forceful but less elegant stride. And once he gets in front of his audience or his questioner (as he did on Tuesday), his gaze is direct, his eye contact intense and his delivery and physical side match.

He is also disarmingly capable of becoming personal, as he did when he asked the student questioner when he would graduate from college and then, with a carefully crafted on-the-fly answer, firmly assured the student that he WOULD have a job when he graduated.

When Mitt Romney connects with an audience, it’s because his body language isn’t edited. In that case Romney’s words and delivery matched, and his concern for the student was genuine.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

It’s Saturday, four days after the first of three important
presidential debates. Since Wednesday I’ve been mulling over whether to comment
on the first debate—and if so, where to begin and end.

Is another opinion needed since so much has already been
written: advice for both candidates on everything from personal style to
congratulations on the lack of the expected gaffes? That is, of course, with
the exception of Romney’s threats to de-fund PBS and take down Big Bird!

As soon as Mitt Romney made those statements, I shuddered.
It’s not smart to threaten Big Bird’s existence. He’s a character beloved and so
deeply entrenched in children’s television as to be a permanent part of
Americana! Even Peggy Noonan warned in her WSJ
editorial “Romney Deflates the President” to beware, as Big Birds will be
showing up to heckle and distract at Romney political events.

Romney’s Big Bird comment provided comic relief as my debate
viewing got off to a rocky start, which I should have expected. Even before the
clock started, I was put off by President Obama’s body language. (And it wasn’t
the first time.) How people handle and manipulate space is an important aspect
of nonverbal communication and as such deserves some commentary, for it was a
significant factor throughout the debate.

Territorial jockeying for space began immediately when the
two candidates took the stage. With a wide smile and strong stride, President
Obama entered from the right. He strode confidently past his podium – into the personal
space* of Romney’s podium – to shake his opponent’s hand.

The President never, if he can help it, simply offers a
traditional one-handed greeting. He usually leans in and extends his right hand
to shake while simultaneously using his other hand to grasp his opponent’s
upper arm.

This technique is often used to gain physical and visual dominance. By employing this technique, the President effectively entered Romney’s
two-foot private bubble of personal space. Obama’s two-handed shake should be
viewed as an aggressive act, as it is a wrap-around intended to grab the dominant
physical position and perhaps intimidate before the debate begins.

I’ve watched President Obama use this same two-handed greeting
with political figures and world leaders. Each time I witness it, I cringe
because it’s a flagrant violation of another’s personal space and generally not
well received by the person experiencing this locked-in greeting. Besides, who
wants a sweaty hand on the sleeve of a perfectly pressed suit jacket?

Although Governor Romney and President Obama are close in
height and weight, The President’s initial two-handed greeting was effective in
visually diminishing Romney.The gesture
was calculated to establish control and from a visual perspective was very effective!

President Obama’s use of body language gave him a head start, but he quickly lost his advantage. Once the debate was underway, he
seemed to shrink into his assigned spot and rarely (through eye contact or
otherwise) left the safe space of his lectern. In fact, he seemed to hunker down into his own zone as he was clearly unprepared for the rhetorical and intellectual
demands of debating Mitt Romney.

*personal distance is between two and four feet in most of the Western
world